On Social Security Numbers

Everything in the USA is based on your social security number.

Everything.

No credit rating without an SSN.

No loans without an SSN.

No health insurance without an SSN.

No online access to various institutions (eg the credit union) without an SSN.

I can't get an SSN. I am not allowed to work. SSNs are only for those who work. I can get an ITIN which is an Internal Revenue Service number that is for tax purposes (even though I am not allowed to work, go figure!). I am holding off on that until I find out whether I can get a work permit - you can't have an ITIN and an SSN at the same time.

DH can get an SSN but you can't apply for an SSN until you've been here for 10 working days or more, and then it is not issued for at least another four weeks after that. He has applied for his SSN.

This is causing some problems, as you may imagine.

Currently, DH has to nominate which health insurance fund we are to be covered under within 30 days of our arrival (ie real soon now). To do this, he has to provide his, guess what?

You got it! His SSN!

But he doesn't have one.

You would think that the health insurance providers for big company like HP would be used to people not having SSNs. After all HP recruits lots of people from overseas. But no they want the SSN first. Someone there has to be able to sort this out, but there is no HR contact number, only a help page and an email contact....

Heaven help Australia if we go down the Australia card path. It would mean all our records would be tied to one number, just like the American SSN. If you lose that number or someone steals it from you (identity theft) or you are new in the country and everything relies on you having that number, what on earth do you do? What if you do not qualify for that number? Do you remain a non-entity, a legal but barely tolerated alien?

Am I to be a non-entity here, simply a subsidiary alien? I quite object to that! Should I start jumping up and down and doing my best Elephant Man impersonation? I am not an animal (nor an alien), I am a human being!

Eh, it won't do any good. I'll just wait and see if I can get a work permit. Only three or so months of waiting to go!